ATP World Tour Finals, London: Preview and Predictions

We are set for the final tournament of the year on the ATP tour as the top eight men battle it out for the prestigious price of being the World Tour Finals Champion.  Lets take a look at the groups...

Novak Djokovic

GROUP A - Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Group A is definitely the tougher of the two groups; we are guaranteed another match between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, which promises to be exciting following their most recent encounter in Shanghai where Djokovic saved match points to defeat Murray in a total epic.  Tomas Berdych progressed to the semi-finals last year and will be no slouch this year.  I cannot see him challenging Djokovic, but the match with Murray could be the crucial encounter to determine who qualifies for the semi-finals.  Berdych has a good record against Murray leading their head-to-head by 4 wins to 3, but I think Murray will win on this occasion.  Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was last year's runner-up, but I cannot see him winning a match here.  He will struggle to get sets against Djokovic or Murray, and then his record over Berdych has included two losses in 2012.

Prediction - Djokovic qualifying top with three wins followed by Murray who edges Berdych in a tight three setter.

Roger Federer

GROUP B - Roger Federer, David Ferrer, Juan Martin Del Potro and Janko Tipsarevic

Roger Federer will be very happy with the group he has drawn and should be in pole position to at least reach the semi-finals.  He has a 13-0 record over David Ferrer and 5-0 over Janko Tipsarevic, and I cannot see this changing over the course of the next week.  The most intriguing match will be the one with Juan Martin Del Potro.  Federer has beaten Del Potro a whopping six times this year, but Del Potro has pushed the Swiss star to a decider in their last three matches and even recorded a win in Basel.  Del Potro is without doubt, the dark horse this week.  I think he will record wins over Federer and Tipsarevic to qualify, although I think it will be extremely tight as I see Federer, Ferrer and Del Potro each recording two wins.  I do not hold much hope for Tipsarevic this week who I see getting one or two sets at best...

Prediction - Federer and Del Potro qualifying by virtue of conceding less sets than Ferrer, who I think will put up an admirable effort but just come up short.

Semi-Final Predictions:

Juan Martin Del Potro d. Novak Djokovic

Andy Murray d. Roger Federer

Final Prediction:

Andy Murray d. Juan Martin Del Potro

I do not fancy either Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer to win the title this week.  I think Djokovic will win all his group matches, but will fall at the hands of a stunning performance by the dark horse, Juan Martin Del Potro.  Andy Murray has owned Federer since Wimbledon and with an even more buoyant home crowd following this year's heroics, I think he will cap a fantastic 2012 with a first ever World Tour Finals title.